Seeing Stars
By Jason Ulloa
Original story by Moonsong
Continued with her permission.


Chapter 18

"Mr. J?" Juléi squeaked in fright as she started to reach for the blanket in 
order to cover herself.

"Don't move," Jed ordered coldly as he pushed the barrel of his gun into her 
chest. "I need some answers from you and I don't want you to try anything. As 
far as I'm concerned, I'd love to have just one reason to shoot you right now." 
He leaned closer so that he was staring directly into her eyes, and scowled 
fiercely. "And DON'T call me, Mr. J!" he growled with calm, controlled anger.

"Y... yes, sir," she stammered just as Erwight started to wake up.

"Hey, who're you talking to...," he mumbled groggily as he started to sit up. 
As soon as his gaze fell onto the gun pointed between Juléi's breasts, he 
snapped to full alertness. "Holy.... Who the hell are you?!?" he shouted as his 
eyes widened in apprehension. "What do you want?"

"Please don't interrupt," Jed ordered flatly. "I have no qualms with killing 
you as well, so I suggest you just sit quietly unless you have something useful 
to tell me.

"Now," he said as he turned back to Juléi, "I will ask you a question. I want 
you to answer it correctly and promptly. If you lie to me, or waste my 
time...." He removed the gun from her chest, pointed it at her head, and fired.

Juléi was about to scream in fright, until Jed pushed the gun barrel into her 
open mouth. "Now, you weren't about to scream, were you?" he asked with a dark 
grin on his face. As soon as he was sure she was going to stay quiet, he 
removed the gun from her mouth and placed it back on her chest. "Next time, I 
will be aiming at your head, instead of your wall. Understand?"

"Yes, sir...," she squeaked fearfully.

Jed glanced over at Erwight and smirked. "The same goes for you, too. One noise 
and you'll be the second person I silence. Understand?"

"Yeah, all right," he grumbled angrily.

"Good. Now that we have an understanding, I want you to stay put and don't 
move. Juléi, I will ask you once and only once; where is the Yellow Nijizuishou 
crystal? Dissembling and lying will only make me upset... and you dead; not to 
mention him."

"All right," she said with a sigh. "I'll tell you where it is."

"No," Jed said flatly. "You'll show me where it is. Now."

"But...."

"Now," he ordered as he took a step back. "By the way...," he added, then 
pointed the gun at the phone sitting on a table and fired, "...stay put, and 
don't try anything that I wouldn't approve of. Both your lives are counting on 
your behavior, so I wouldn't push it." Jed lowered the gun, then glared at 
Juléi. "Well?" he asked impatiently.

Juléi was hesitant to get up since she was completely nude underneath the 
blanket. "Can't I get dressed first...?"

Jed coldly raised the gun and pointed it at her head. "Now."

Erwight glared at Jed. "Look, I know where the crystal is, so how 'bout you 
let me get it?"

"Really, now...," he said with a contemptuous smirk as he glanced at him. "Why 
not? Since you seem to be so eager to cooperate, then you can lead the way. 
However, if either of you makes a move that I don't like, you get to be the 
first one I... take care of."

"Whatever, you son of a...."

"Let's get one thing straight, my friend," Jed cut in as he shoved his gun up 
Erwight's nose. "You're not exactly in a very good position, here. Now, if I 
were you, I'd shut up unless you were offering something constructive, like 
giving me the exact location of the Nijizuishou. Otherwise, I might just lose 
my temper and do something drastic. Now, get up," he ordered as he removed the 
gun from Erwight's face. "Both of you."

Both Erwight and Juléi got up from the bed while keeping themselves covered 
with the blanket. Juléi was relieved to finally be able to cover herself, while 
Erwight gave Jed a hard stare. Jed just sighed lightly and shook his head while 
trying to keep his patience and his professional demeanor.

"All right," Jed said before they could stall any longer, "show me where you 
hid the crystal."

"Just follow us," Erwight said coldly as he and Juléi headed out the room.

"You're not going to kill us when you get the crystal back, are you?" Juléi 
asked timidly.

"Depends," Jed replied cryptically.

"Depends on what?"

"On how long the search takes," he told them offhandedly as he started to 
follow them into the living room.

"We hid it in the kitchen, in a place you'd never think to look," Erwight said 
as he and Juléi moved toward the kitchen.

"Oh?" Jed asked, grinning slightly at the implied challenge. "You think I 
couldn't find your special hiding place?"

"I seriously doubt it," he replied stiffly.

"Nate, I don't think you should be taunting him...," Juléi warned.

"No, I find this little challenge of his... amusing," Jed told her. "Not many 
guys would have the guts to taunt a man with a gun in his hand." He turned 
toward Erwight and grinned wolfishly. "You think I can't find it without your 
aid?"

"Never," he answered back.

"You seem like a gambling man... Nate. Care to wager your life on it?"

Erwight's eyes popped open. "What?"

"If you're so sure I can't find it, then you won't mind risking your life on 
it, right?" Jed said with a huge, confident grin. "You win, you and Juléi go 
free and you keep the Nijizuishou. You lose..., well..., you lose."

"This is insane!" Juléi shouted. "Are you just going to toy with us?!? I'll 
give you the damn crystal if you'd just please leave us alone!!!"

"Calm down," Jed ordered as he pointed the gun at Juléi. "Don't interrupt." He 
looked back to Erwight and grinned again. "So? What say you? Feeling lucky?"

"Just try and find it. I dare you."

This time, Jed laughed. "I'm beginning to like you, Nate. All right, then, I'll 
take you up on that dare."

As Jed started to rummage through the kitchen, Juléi turned to Erwight and 
glared at him. "What the hell are you doing, Nate??? You're gonna get us 
killed!"

"Not if I kill him, first," he replied quietly as he nodded toward the set of 
kitchen knives that was sitting not far away from his reach. He quietly slipped 
one out of its sheathe and snuck it underneath the blanket, then nodded 
confidently.

In reply, Juléi hugged against his side and smiled sensuously at him. "You pull 
this off, baby, and I promise that I'll thank you for the rest of the night."

Before Nate could reply, he heard the distinct sound of the refrigerator door 
opening. Instantly, his attention snapped toward Jed.

"Of course," Jed said with a small laugh.

"What are you talking about?" Erwight demanded as he slowly moved closer to 
him. If he couldn't stab him, he could always throw the knife....

"Let me guess," Jed said as he pulled out a plastic jug. "Orange juice?"

"Lemonade," Juléi replied, trying fiercely to keep her nervousness from being 
heard in her voice.

"Lemonade," he repeated with a wide smirk. "Right." As Jed shook the jug, a 
small clinking sound could be heard rattling inside it.

"We left it in the freezer to cool down quickly," she explained. "It froze 
inside the jug. You're just hearing the frozen lemonade hitting against the 
side."

"You know," Jed began as he grabbed a glass from her dish rack, "I'm getting a 
little thirsty from this searching. Either of you want some as well?" When 
neither one answered back, he began to pour. He got only so much out before a 
huge chunk of frozen lemonade came out, knocking the glass into the sink.

"See?" Erwight said, pointing at the sink with his empty hand. "Just frozen 
lemonade."

"Well, let's just thaw the rest of it out," he replied as he turned on the 
faucet. As the water warmed up, the rest of the lemonade started to melt and 
wash away until only a chunk of yellow colored crystal remained. "And here it 
is!" he exclaimed as he plucked the wet Nijizuishou from the sink. "Looks like 
I win."

Erwight quickly lunged at Jed with the knife in his hand, but failed to reach 
him as he effortlessly kicked the knife away from him, then followed with a 
second kick to his head. Erwight spun in a full circle before hitting the floor 
facefirst.

"Nate!!!" Juléi dropped the blanket and rushed to his side.

Jed went into the bedroom and turned off the lights, then walked back to the 
kitchen, turning off the lights as he went. "Oh, yeah," he said when he reached 
the kitchen doorway, as if just remembering something. Erwight had just stood 
up again with Juléi's help, and now they were both staring at Jed in fear for 
their lives.

He quietly raised his gun and fired two shots, then turned around and walked 
toward the front door to Juléi's apartment. As he opened the door, two loud 
thuds sounded from the kitchen.

"You lose," he said smugly as he shut off the light and locked the door behind 
him.

            **********************************************

"Now there's no more light coming from Juléi's apartment," Jack reported into 
his cell phone. "I think the guy's got what he came for and took care of both 
Juléi and Erwight."

"Jack... what have we gotten ourselves into?" Tira asked nervously. "This was 
supposed to be just another cheating husband case, like all the others."

"I know, Ti," Jack replied. "First, cheating; then, embezzlement; now, possible 
robbery and murder. Adding the fact that this mysterious woman is searching for 
the murderer and she won't tell us why...."

"What're we gonna do, Jack?" she asked quietly.

"Did you already call the police, Ti?" he asked.

"As soon as you said that the lights were on in Juléi's apartment," she told 
him.

"Good," he said as he started to slip away from his hiding spot. "I'm coming 
back. We have to bring all of our evidence to the police. Not only that, but we 
need to contact Diane. She has to know about this."

"I think that Miss Silver needs to answer a few questions herself," she said 
sternly. "Like, why she's searching for a murderer."

"All in good time, Ti," he told her. "I'm at my car right now, so I'm gonna 
hung up. I'll see you when I get there."

"Jack, please don't hang up," she entreated. "I'm scared. I wanna make sure 
that you're all right. Don't hang up until you get here, okay?"

He sighed as he opened the car door. "The things I do for you, Ti.... All 
right, but you're paying for this particular phone call outta your pay."

"What?" she exclaimed. "Aw, come on, Jack! That's not fair! You needed to keep 
the line on for the tape recording!"

"I was only kidding, Ti."

"...oh," she replied sheepishly. "This's no time for joking, Jack! Your life 
could be in danger!"

"Right, right...," he sighed as he started his car and pulled out into the 
street. "I still think you're overreacting... just a bit."

As Jack drove off, a figure slowly lowered a collapsable viewing lens. 
"License plate number: 7YQJ069," he said in a cold, menacing tone. "You have 
just made a big mistake, my friend. You know too much, and that problem will 
have to be rectified."

            **********************************************

"And, cut!" Amy shouted. "Wonderful, people! Let's wrap it up for today!"

"Not bad," Jason said as he walked up behind Amy and hugged her around the 
waist.

"Jason!" she gasped and giggled at the same time. "What are you doing?"

"Just making sure that everyone knows the truth between you and me," he said 
as he kissed the back of her neck.

"Now, quit it!" she said as she broke free from his embrace and batted at him 
playfully. "There's time for that later."

"Later, huh?" he asked with a sly grin.

"What're you plotting, Mr. Evans?" she asked with a mock suspicious expression 
on her face.

"Oh... nothing," he said with an innocent look on his face.

"Really?" she asked wryly. "How come I don't believe you?"

"Because," he said as he picked her up and heaved her over his shoulder in a 
fireman's carry position, "you're right. Now, let's go."

"Jason!!!" she squealed as she lightly pounded his back, while being carried 
out of the studio.

"What's gotten into your brother, Lita?" G.Q. asked as he and Lita witnessed 
the brief spectacle between the two lovers.

"Beats me," Lita replied with a small shrug. "The guy's probably just trying to 
be a little romantic or something. He hasn't had a whole lot of practice, 
though, so I guess he's just experimenting."

"Experimenting?" G.Q. asked with a raised eyebrow.

Lita grinned mischeviously in response. "That little stunt he pulled was from a 
scene in one movie that we worked on a few years ago," she explained. "In my 
opinion, I think he pulled it off just as good as that actor did."

"I see," he said uncertainly. "That explains his sudden... change in behavior." 
He shook his head and shrugged to himself. "Well, at any rate, I'm going home. 
I've got a few more ideas I'm thinking of plugging into the new script 
revision. I'm going for a possible final revision, so I'll just see what I come 
up with tomorrow."

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be great," she replied as she jovially 
slapped him in the back. "After all, you're the genius writer, right? Later, 
G.Q."

"See you later, Lita."

            **********************************************

"That was pretty good work you were doing back there, Darien," Tanya said 
approvingly. "I must admit that you're learning very quickly; faster than I 
thought you would. I think even Serena has to admit that your acting skills are 
improving rapidly." She paused and glanced pointedly at the blonde actress, who 
had just started to walk past them in order to leave the studio.

"Huh?" she said as she turned back. "Oh. Yeah, good work, Shields," she said as 
she turned and started to leave.

Tanya blinked in surprise. She was expecting just an offhanded agreement, but 
she had actually PRAISED him! It was slight, but still, it was praise 
nonetheless.

"Well, Darien, I guess we'll see you tomorrow, then?" she said as she started 
after Serena.

"All right," Darien called back. "Bye, Tanya! Bye, Serena!"

"Bye, Darien!" Tanya called back.

"Bye, Shields," Serena said over her shoulder as she exited the studio with 
Tanya right on her heels.

Darien grinned to himself, since he had also noted the slight praise that 
Serena had given him. She had told him once before that compliments from her 
weren't given very often, so he took this praise as an indication of her 
warming up to him. Things were definitely starting to work out between himself 
and Serena.

Pleased with the work he had done today and with Serena's rare compliment, he 
left the studio, got into his car, and started for home.

            **********************************************

Darien walked up the stairs of his apartment complex and headed for his 
apartment. He was so happy that he felt like having a small solo celebration: 
pizza and a movie or two! Maybe ones starring Serena or Tanya. That would seem 
apropos for this celebration of his. He smiled to himself as he took his keys 
out of his pocket and reached for the doorknob.

"Darien?" a familiar voice called out to him from behind.

"Raye?" Darien said as he turned around. There she was, standing at the 
stairway, as if she had just climbed up the stairs to his level. "What're you 
doing here?"

Raye frowned slightly. "No, 'It's so good to see you again, Raye?'" she asked 
as she walked toward him. "Just, 'What're you doing here?'"

It was Darien's turn to frown. "I'm sorry, Raye," he apologized. "It's just 
that I'm surprised to find you here. After all, you dumped me, remember?"

"I know," she said contritely. "But, that was a long time ago."

"That was a few weeks ago," he corrected flatly.

"Whatever," she said dismissively. "Anyway, I just wanted to come back and tell 
you that I thought about the reasons why I dumped you and I've realized that 
I've made a mistake." She paused for a moment, then hesitantly reached out to 
him. When she saw that he wasn't going to move away, she placed her hand on his 
arm and smiled up at him. "I want another chance, Darien."

"Why?" he asked cautiously. "What's different about me now that's making you 
want to come back to me? What happened between you and that other guy you left 
me for? How do I know that you aren't gonna leave me again?"

Raye flinched at each point that he brought up, but she didn't take back her 
hand from his arm. "Well...," she began penitently, "as for the guy I left you 
for, it turned out that he was just trying to get me to sleep with him. He 
wasn't as sincere as I thought he was. One of his old girlfriends warned me 
about him, so I confronted him with that fact and found out the truth.

"As for how you know that I won't leave you," she continued, "I know that you 
were always honest to me. I'm sorry that I took that for granted; I didn't know 
how lucky I was to have an honest man as my boyfriend." She then moved closer 
and smiled pleadingly up at him. "Please, Darien? Accept my apology and take 
me back?"

Darien's frown faded slightly as he looked down at her. "I don't know, Raye," 
he began quietly. "You still haven't answered my first question."

Raye frowned in perplexity. "Yes, I have," she replied. "I told you that I'm 
sorry for taking your honesty for granted and...."

"That's not what I meant, Raye," Darien interrupted. "I asked you what was so 
different about me that you wanted to come back to me. From what I remember 
when we were together, you were a little overly concerned about my current 
career. It was sometimes to the point where you'd all but demand that I go out 
and try to find a better paying job."

"I was concerned, Darien," she told him. "I want to see you succeed. That's all 
I ever wanted."

"I'm not all that sure about that," he countered. "It sounded to me that you 
just wanted me to succeed so that I'd make more money and be able to provide you 
with more things. I remember when you first started complaining that I never 
brought you gifts like I used to when we first started dating."

"But, that was a long time ago, Darien!" she insisted. "I'm different now!"

"So, you don't mind that I'm still a production assistant?" Darien asked.

Raye blinked and frowned in confusion. "Wait a minute," she said as she 
released his arm and stepped back away from him. "Andrew said that you had a 
role in a new movie starring Serena Moon."

"So, you did know...," he said with a frown.

Her eyes widened as she realized her slip. "Yeah, I did," she admitted.

"So, you were only coming back to me because you got your wish and I now have a 
higher paying career?"

"Oh, no, Darien," she insisted as she tried to make up for her slip. "I was 
just upset because I thought that I was being lied to."

"By me?" he asked as he raised his eyebrow. "Or, by Andrew?" He shook his head 
as he turned toward his apartment door and opened it. "Never mind. I don't 
really want to know. I don't have any hard feelings toward you, Raye, but I'd 
rather that we just stay friends. After all, I'm currently seeing someone else 
now."

Raye's eyes widened in shock. "You're... what?!?" she yelled. "You were seeing 
someone all this time, and you let me believe that I actually had a chance 
to.... Why?!?"

Darien paused in the middle of his doorway and turned back to her. "Maybe it 
was I wanted to know whether or not you were truly sincere about wanting to get 
back together. I think I now know the answer. I'm truly sorry if I hurt you, 
Raye. Please forgive me for that. Good night, Raye." With that, he went into 
his apartment and closed the door behind him.

Raye stared at his door for a few more seconds, then angrily whirled around and 
stormed off. "Just wait till I find out who's keeping me from Darien," she 
growled to herself. "I just know that if he wasn't seeing someone he would've 
been mine again! I swear, whoever's at fault will pay for my humiliation!"

            **********************************************

"So, tell me," Tanya prompted as one of Serena's butlers deposted a tray of 
food by the couch that the two women were lounging on and promptly departed. 
"How'd your date with Darien go?"

"It was NOT a date," Serena retorted as she took a piece of cheese. "It was 
just a short lunch." She turned away and reached over the side of the couch for 
the remote control to the large screen TV and turned it on.

"A lunch date," Tanya added as she pointed at her with a slice of apple for 
emphasis. "Hey, turn it to channel 7. My favorite show comes on in a few 
minutes."

"It's a rerun, Tanya," Serena told her.

"So?" she asked as she gave her stern look. "It's still my favorite show! Can't 
I see it? Look, just gimme the remote...."

"Hell, no!" Serena replied as she hid it behind her back after changing the 
channel.

"Girl, don't make me get violent on you," Tanya warned.

"Hah!" Serena challenged. "Just try and take it. I dare you."

"All right, then," Tanya said as she lunged at Serena and tried to wrestle the 
remote away. "Ha! Got it!" she said as she got off of her and went to sit back 
at her end. "Nobody keeps Tanya Cambridge from her favorite TV show!"

"I let you win," Serena said with a laugh.

"Yeah, right," Tanya laughed as well. "I beat you every single time since high 
school."

"I let you win, then, too," Serena shot back. "I could've won if I wanted to."

"No way," Tanya replied as she switched the station to channel 7. "Damn! We've 
already missed part of the beginning!"

"It's a rerun, Tanya," Serena pointed out. "You already know what happens."

"Yeah, but that guy in the first scene is so cute!" she sighed. "Speaking of 
cute... what exactly went on with Darien during your... lunch? And no trying 
to get off the subject. I've got the remote, so I am Queen! Answer my question!"

Serena couldn't help but give a small laugh at the old inside joke from high 
school. One of the theater props that they used to joke about was the 'royal 
scepter' with was made using a painted wooden pole and an old TV remote control 
that was painted to simulate a bejeweled knob. When Tanya first held that 
staff, she said to the rest of the theater group, 'I have the remote, so I am 
Queen!', which soon became a running joke with the group for the rest of the 
school year.

"All right, Your Majesty," Serena relented. "There's not really a lot to say. 
Shields offered to take me to lunch today. I was sorta surprised, since the 
last time we had lunch together, the bill cost him almost fifty dollars, which 
was probably more than he was used to spending for lunch. Anyway, since he was 
so sincere in his kind gesture that I offered to let him pick the place where 
he wanted to eat."

"Really, Serena?" Tanya asked as she grinned slightly. She couldn't help but be 
pleased at how well her matchmaking scheme was starting out. "Go on."

"Well," she continued, "he took me to a pizza parlor. Can you believe it? Me 
going to a pizza parlor of all places?"

"I thought you loved pizza," Tanya said as she looked askance at her.

"Yeah, but I always order delivery," she explained. "Pizza should come to me, 
not the other way around.

"Anyway, when I told Shields that I didn't want to go in there - because of all 
the unwanted attention that I would start getting - he went to go set up 
something with a friend of his, who happens to own a little college hangout 
place called 'The Crown' and set up a booth for us so I could actually have 
some peace and quiet."

"Ooh!" Tanya said suddenly. "I've heard of that place! It's really popular 
among the local college kids and even the faculty. So, Darien's friend owns the 
place and he pulled some strings to get you some peace and quiet?"

"Just about," Serena agreed.

"Wow," she said in surprise. "He sure went out of his way for you. Doesn't that 
kinda make you feel a little special?"

Serena paused in thought as she reached for another piece of cheese from the 
almost forgotten tray of food sitting on the table nearby. "Yeah, I guess 
so...."

"You know, I'm jealous of you, Serena," she told her.

"What do you mean?" Serena asked.

"I wish I had a guy who'd be willing to do for me what Darien is willing to do 
for you," she told her. "You know what I think? I think he likes you."

"What?!?" Serena shouted. "No way!"

"Just think about it, girl," she said as she elbowed her lightly for emphasis. 
"How many guys would be willing to do all that for you, even after everything 
you put him through? Not many. Also, why do you think that Darien's willing to 
put up with it? Just to pay you back for your dress? I seriously doubt it. Face 
it, Darien likes you."

Serena seriously thought about what Tanya had told her. She had a point; with 
all the abuse she had shoved down his throat, there was no reason for him to 
treat her as he had, except for the fact that he must like her. He did tell her 
that the reason behind his kindness was because he cared, but she had written 
it off as a kind of charity of his. Now, those words were taking on a different 
meaning. Could he have meant that he cared... about her?

"You all right, Serena?" Tanya asked.

"Yeah," she replied quietly. "I was just thinking."

"About Darien?"

"Uh-huh. And about other things."

"What other things?"

"I'm... not too sure, Tanya," she told her. "I'll still need to think about it."

"Well, if you ever need to talk about it some more, I'm still here," Tanya told 
her. "And you always know how to get ahold of me."

"Thanks, Tanya," Serena said gratefully.

Tanya got up, went over to her, and hugged her. "I'm always here if you need 
me. That's what friends are for. Don't worry; I'm sure you'll figure all this 
out in time."

            **********************************************

                              To Chapter 19

            **********************************************

Author's Note: Well, now the plot thickens on both ends. Ah, but where is the 
heroine of our movie? I know I haven't been giving her much of the spotlight 
lately, but I've been trying to build up the suspense for the moment when she 
does show up. Anyway, get ready for more as the story continues! Next chapter: 
Jed's progress report; Diane's confession; an attempt on Jack's life; and 
Serena comes to a decision about Darien.

Disclaimer: All original materials belong to their respective 
owners. Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi and a bunch 
of big companies. No copyright infringement is intended. This 
story belongs to Moonsong and myself, and I would appreciate 
you emailing her or myself for permission before posting it 
anywhere else. Thank you.

Prologue Copyright © January 24, 2000 Moonsong.
Other Chapters Copyright © August 12, 2000 Jason Ulloa. 
All Rights Reserved.